RJ Response 4

Diet for a Warm Planet, by Julia Whitty

      Whitty makes many strong and opinionated points in her text. Many points she made reinforced some of my own opinions on Global warming. I believe that global warming is a natural phenomenon that the planet Earth has gone through more than once before. It is going to happen whether or not we do anything about it. However, I believe that we, as humans, are capable of accelerating the process. Whether or not we have any direct effect on the process of global warming, it still beneficial to us if we cut down on our fatty food consumption and carbon emissions. We need to worry about ourselves mainly, and our continued survival. Planet Earth will remain here no matter what we do, but whether or not we as a species will still be there is up to us.

RJ Response 3

In Defense of Torture, by Sam Harris

      After reading Harris' position paper, I was left with a lot of redundant thoughts. Harris struck points that really struck home with my own position on torture. The concept of torture is inhuman and evil, but as reinforced by Harris, is a necessary evil. A common lesson that is taught to us by our parents is "Treat others as you would treat yourself", but if a thug or a terrorist were to treat me inhumanly, then by all means! we should feel obligated to torture or treat them poorly.  This becomes a blatantly obvious course of action when there is a risk of other people being hurt!

RJ Response 3

Discovering the Truth: The operation of Ethos in Anti-Smoking Advertising, by Rebecca Feldman

      I already knew before I read this that advertisements heavily use literary and persuasive elements to sway the audience in some way. I confirmed my knowledge after reading this rhetorical analysis. Personally, I ignore ads in any form, whether they are trying to get me to smoke and drink or not to. In fact, advertisement is one of the only things I hate about a free-market economy. The best advertisement that I've found is researching something that you are going to buy before you buy it. By cross-referencing different sellers and reading reviews submitted by owners,  I believe an average person can make the most informed decision based on their needs. Advertisement was never involved in this process.

9/28/10

RJ Response 2.2

Oops! I'll Do It Again. And Again. And Again ... , by James Bowman

      It's a great argument whether or not we students should be able to take a placement exam as many times as possible, and take the best grade. Personally, I believe that we SHOULD be able to, for many reasons. First, historically, human kind has never just had one chance to do something great. It's a quote that Thomas Edison created 99 ways how not to make a light bulb and only 1 way to make it right. Looking at a broader scale of things, evolution generally works this way, too: a species is a sum of all of its accomplishments. To bring this back down to specifics, I personally took the SAT three different times. I took the SAT before I took the recommended math courses, and after I took those classes. Of course, the latter test had better scores, getting me higher scholarships. I believe that this is perfectly fair.

9/19/2010

RJ Response 2.1

Words of My Mouth, by Joe Mackall

      This memoir really said something to me. As a kid, I got a tingling feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever I did something that I knew I wasn't supposed to do. It felt good. We kids would then do those things so much that it becomes a second-nature thing, something we say without thinking. We never really fully understand the meaning and connotation behind the words we say, because they are new to us. Mackall was just a regular kid trying to be one of the cool guys saying things that everyone else was saying, but it obviously did not get him much glory in the end.

9/19/2010

The Good Immigrant Student

      I was able to connect with some of what Nguyen presented. It was in middle school that I myself had a hard time dealing with other kids. I felt a lot more self-conscious at that time then I do now. Before, I could not speak very well do to a very strong stutter. It was so bad that many of my teachers began to not call on on me because I could not be understood. I had realised then that the world would not wait for those whose abilities did not meet the standards of others. I eventually took a special education class that specifically focused and worked with children who could not speak normally. I took that class for two years before I had learned all of the tricks to speaking normally, with confidence. My speech teacher praised me as 'the most improved'. Instead of being shy and timid, I answered questions with confidence, and even made new friends. I was able to reflect with Nguyen's desire to disappear, to not be called on, and to not have to speak in front of the class. Speech is still something that I am working on today. This specific reading has made me able to remember the past experiences that I had previously tucked into the back of my mind to never be called up again. I believe that in recalling these things, I can continue to strive to become better.